Tilting device for venetian blinds



- Aug. 12, 1930. F, LEE-PER 1,772,493

TILTING DEVICE FOR VENETIAN BL'INDS Filed April 1?, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet1 INVENTOR. 7'70/7 k 1. e eper' A TTORNEYS Au 12, 1930. FLEEPER.1,772,493

TILTING DEVICE FOR VENETIAN BLINDS Filed April 17, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR. Wank A eeper M W W A TTORNEY-5 Patented Aug. 12, 1930 UNITEDSTATES FRANK PATENT OFFICE.

warns, on sAnmAnmo. CALIFORNIA, assreuon r conuivmm mus mconrona'rnn. orraw max, 1:. Y., A CORPORATION or NEW YORK TILTING DEVICE FOR VENETIANBLINDS Application filed r m 17,

This invention relates to a device for. mounting the tilt rail or topslat of a Venetian blind, and the principal object of the manuallyoperated means for tilting said de-' vice and means whereby operation ofsaid manually operated means acts to release said catch means and permitthe desired'tilting I to be effected. The construction of the device issuch that the force which is applied to efliect the desired tilting actsfirst to release the catch means and then to tilt the blind to thedesired extent, while-the withdrawal of corner of the blind at which thetiltlng desuch force causes the catch means to again engage and hold theblind in the new position.

Blinds of the type" known as Venetian blinds are adapted to be mountedin windows or doors or in any location in which it is de- 3 sired tocontrol the admission of light A through an opening, and compri'seingeneral a plurality of flat strips or slats extending transversely ofthe window or other opening and disposed one above the other so as topro- I vide spaces therebetween, and means for tilting said slats ineither direction fromthe 'horizontal so as to control the admission oflight/through said spaces. Means are also V "provided for raising andlowering the blind,-

' which is accomplished by simply raising the 'lowermosts'lat and eachsucceeding slat up 2 against the next higher slats until the desiredheight is reached. The means for tilting theslats ordinarily comprisem'eans' operated by cords or the like to tilt the topmost slat or'tiltrail and flexible straps of cloth or thelike securing or operativelyconnecting- ='the tilt rail to all of the other slats so as to cause allof the slats to be tilted with the 1928. Serial No. 270,042.

According to this invention the tilting of the tilt rail is efiected bypulling upon one end or the other of a tilting cord which runs oversuitable pulley means and is operatively connected to a tilting membersecuredto the. tilt rail. Toothed-or notched means are provided on saidtilting member and a catch member is adapted to engage in the teeth ornotches thereof to hold the same in any position, and the pulley meansare so mounted so with respect to said catch member that the initialpull upon either end of said cord will 1 cause the )catch member tobereleased from said teeth and thus permit tilting of the de v1ce. a

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention and referring thereto.

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the upper portion of a'Venetian blindmounted in a window 'frame, with my improved tilting device appliedthereto.

Fig. 2 is a section on line 22 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged front elevation of the vice ismounted. y

Fig. 4 1s a vertical sectionon line 4-4 in rangement.

' Fi 10 is a partial view similar to Fig. 5, showing the use of onepulley for both ends of the tllting cord instead of separate pulleys 9otherefor. V

In Figs. Ho 4, the Venetian blind 1s shown as mounted within a windowframe or other.

frame of which the vertical sidejmembers are indicated at-l and thehorizontal top mem- .95 her at 2. The Venetian blind comprises an Qupper slat or tilt rail 3 and a pluralit of thin slats or strips 4mounted therebeneat Fabric supporting strips 5 are secured at then upperends to tilt rail 3 as indicated at 6 so as '100 to constitute loopsextendin downwardly to the bottom of the blind, w ere they are Securedto the bottom slat of the blind in usual manner. A plurality oftransverse supporting strips or webs '7 of suitable material such asfabric are secured to the opposite sides of each strip 5 at suitableintervals throughout the height of the blind, and the transverse slats 4rest upon the webs 7 and between the opposite sides of strips 5. Thestrips 5 and supporting webs 7 are for the purposeof causingtheslatsltobetilted to the same angular position as tilt rail 3: It will beunderstood that any desired number of the fabric strips 5, each havingsupporting webs 7, may be provided at suitable positions throughout thelength of the blind, it being customary on blinds of small or moderatesize to provide two of such strips secured at points suitably spacedfrom the respective ends of the blind, as shown in Fig. 1.

Lifting cords 10 are also usually provided, being secured in anysuitable manner to the lowermost slat and passing upwardly through slots11 in the respective slats 4 and through slot 11 in tilt rail 3 and overpulleys such as 12 and hence through groove or channels 13 anddownwardly over otherpulley means 12 to position for manual operation.The ends of these cords may hang separately or may be joined together ina loop as shown in Fig. 1. Pulleys 12 and 12' and grooves 13 areprovided in the supporting member 14, commonly called the head rail,which may be shown as secured in position beneath the upper frame member2 and extending across substantially the entire width of the window orother opening. It is also customary to provide two of these liftingcords 10 which may advantageously be placed at the same positionslengthwise of the blind as the fabric strips 5, sothat by pulling on theends of cords 10 the blind may be raised and by releasing said cords theblind may be lowered. Such lifting means form no essential part of thisinvention and any other suitable form of lifting means may be usedinstead of those above described.

The tilting device of my invention comprises a supporting plate orbracket 15 which may be secured to any suitable fixed part, and

preferably to the underside of the ea'd rail 14, in any suitable manneras by means of screws 16 passing through openings 17 in said plate andinto the head rail.

The supporting member 15 comprises a horizontal top portion 19 anddownwardly extending flanges or side portions 20 and 21 depending fromthe edges of said horizontal portion. Theside portion 20 may be disposedtowardtheside frame member 1 and spaced at any suitable distancetherefrom. A rotary tilting member or wheel 22 is rotatably mounted uponand inside of the portion 20, as by means of pin 23. The tilting memberher to be operated by pulling on said cord.

The tilting cord 25 may be secured to tilting member 22 by passing thesame out and n through two openings 33 in the side of said tiltingmember, as shown in Fig. 8, said cord being bent with sufficientsharpness in passing through said openings to cause a binding action andprevent the same from slipping. If desired, the portion of the cordbetween the two openings 33 may be knotted as indicated at 34 in Fig. 9,so as to positively prevent slipping thereof. The groove 24 mayadvantageously be provided by forming wheel 22 of two pressed or stampedmetal members 26 as shown particularly in Fig 7, which may be bent orflared outwardly at their outer edges and may be held together in anysuitable manner. The side portion 20 is also preferably pressed orformed so as to provide an inwardly off-set portion 28 conform ing tothe shape of one of the members 26 so as to provide a bearing surfacetherefor and help to keep the tilting member in proper alignment. Abracket 30 is secured to tilting member 22-as by means of rivets 31,which also secure together the two halves 26 of tilting member 22, saidbracket being adapted to receive one end of tilt rail 3 which may beheld in position as by means of screws 32. The device thereforeprovides. a supporting bracket for one end of the tilt rail, as well asa means for tilting the same.

The pin 23 aforesaid may have a head or flange 23 engaging bracket 30,or may be secured to said bracket or to tilting member 22 in anysuitablemanner, and may be provided at its other end with washer 55 and cotterpin or retaining pin 56, which serves to hold the tilting member inposition. It will be seen, however, that by simply withdrawing pin 56,the tilting member 22 and bracket 30 may be removed, as for repairing orreplacing, or in the assembly or dismantling of the device.

frame member as indicated at 25' and 25".

The ends of said cord may be allowed to hang separately or may besecured together to form a loop.

i The tilting member 22 is also provided' with a plurality of notches orteeth which may be provided in the peripheries of the rei a The otherend of the tilt rail maybe rotatsp ective members 26, as indicated at41, and

the rocking member 36 is provided with a rearwardly or downwardlyextending catch member .42 adapted to engage in or between the teeth ornotches 41 as clearly shown in Figs. 6 and 7, so as to hold the tiltingmember 22 in any position to which it is aded is at the opposite side ofpin from the catch member 42, so that a downward force exerted on saidpulleys will cause the catch member 42 to be raised out of engagementwith'the teeth 41 against the action of spring 44, as hereinafterdescribed. Rocking member 36 may be provided with an opening 47 forpermitting access to screw 16.

ably supported in any suitable or well-known manner- For example, asshown in Fig. 1, such other end may be provided with a pin 50 engagingin an L-shaped notch 51 in bracket 7 52, which may also be secured tothe underside of head rail 14. i

Instead of providing two separate pulleys 38 for the respective ends ofcord 25, both ends of such cord may runover a single pulley 38' as shownin Fig. 10. Said single pulley may be mounted upon pin 39 in the samemanner as the two p'ulleysg38 above describedand the remainde'rwof theconstruction is the same as before.

The operation of-the above described'tilting device is as follows:Assuming that the slats'are tilted to'the position shown in thedrawings, the catch member 42 will engage between certain teeth 41 onthe tilting member 22 and efi'ectively prevent accidental tilting of theslats to any other position. Even if it were attempted, for example, totilt the slats to some other position by pulling upon one of the .fabricsupporting strips 5, or by i taking hold of the tilt rail 3 itself, thecatch member would prevent such operation. Any

gradual shifting of the anghlarpositionofthe blind, due, for example,-tomotion thereof caused by the wind, is thus positively prevented.However, upon exerting a downward pull on either of the cords 25' or 25to effect tilting of the blind in one direction or the other, theinitial effect of the catch member will be to prevent rotation of thetilting member, but this will in turn cause a suflicient downward pullto be exerted on pulley means 38 or 38 to move the rocking member 36 ina counterclockwisedirection about pin 35 so as to release catch member42 from engagement With teeth 41-, whereupon further pull on the cord 25or 25" will cause the tilting 22 to be- 25' or 25 is released the catcmember 42 will again be pressed by spring 44 into engagement with teeth41 so as to hold the same in the new position.

It will be seen from the above that only one manual operation, namely apull upon either cord 25 or 25 is required to release and tilt theblind. Theinitial effect of the force exerted in such operation is torelease the catch means, after which the same force then acts to producethe tilting motion. For

the most satisfactory operation, the pressure of spring 44 upon thecatch means should have a certain approximate relation to the forcerequired to tilt the blind. Such spring pressure should be of suchstrength that the application to either cord 25' or 25 of sufficientforce to tilt the blind will exert. a downward pull on pulley means 38or 38 suificientto overcome the spring-pressure and. raise the catchmeans 42 clear of the teeth 41. In order to act quickly and positively,however, spring 44 is preferably as strong as is possible while stillpermitting this relationship to hold. The force required effect thetilting operation, and smooth movement is therefore easily obtainable.This is to be distinguished. from other devices in which the tilt railis held in position by spring-pressed catch means. In such devices, arelatively strong pull is required to release said catch means, and whenreleased the tilt rail moves suddenly and in a jerky manner and is aptto be moved beyond the desired position. Furthermore, by providing forto release the catch means is therefore less,

or at least no greater, than that required to lifting catch member 42entirely clear of the.

teeth, noiseless operation is ensured and the wear on said parts isgreatly reduced over ,what would occur if the catch member were barelyreleased and the teeth. a

I claim: 1. A tilting devicefor Venetian blinds comprising, incombination with the tilt rail of such a blind, a. tilting cordoperatively connected to said-tilt rail to tilt the same in eitherdirection by pulling on one or the other end of said 'cord,.catch meansfor holding permitted to slip over said tilt rail in adjusted position,and means whereby the initial pull on said tilting cord to tilt the tiltrail in either direction releases said catchmeans and holds the samereleased throughout the duration of "such pull.

2. A tilting device for Venetian blinds comprising, in combination withthe tilt rail ment with said tilting member said tilt rail, manuallyoperable means secured to said-tilting member and operable to tilt thesame in either direction, means biased toward engagement with saidtilting member to hold the same in adjusted position, and means operableby said manually operable means to positively wi hdraw said catch meansfrom engagement with said tilting member and permit tilting thereof bysaid manually operable means.

3. A tilting device for Venetian blinds comprising a tilting memberadapted to be secured to the tilt rail of such a blind and movable tovarious angular positions of ad justment, catch means biased towardengageand adapted when so engaged to positively hold the same tilt saidtilting member adapted when so engaged to the same'in adjusted position,

engagement in adjusted position, and manually operable means operativelyconnected to said catch means and to said tilting member in such mannerthat operationeof said manually operable means acts first to positivelywithdraw said catch means from engagement with said tilting member andthen to tilt said member.

4. A tilting device for Venetian blinds comprising a tilting memberadapted to be secured to the tilt rail of such a blind and tiltable tovarious angular positions of adjustment, catch means movable into andout of engagement with said tilting member and positively hold ing saidcatch means toward engaging position with a force less than thatrequired to when said catch means is out of engagement therewith, andmanually operable means operatively con nected to said catch means andto said tilting member in such manner that operation of said manuallyoperable means acts first to positively withdraw said catch means fromwith said tilting member and then to tilt said member.

5. A tilting device for Venetian blinds comprising a tilting member, arocking member provided with catch means and biased to position to causesaid catch'means to engage said tilting member, pulley means mounted onsaid rocking member, and an operating cord extending over said pulleycatch notches at its periphery,

- tending means 'biasmounted on said bracket and havin means forconnecting the tilt rail of a enetian blind thereto and also having aplurality of a rocking member pivotally mounted on said bracket, catchmeans on said rocking member, spring means to hold said catch means inengagement with one of said notches in the tilting member, pulley meansrotatably mounted on said rocking member at the other side of thepivotal support thereof from the catch means, and a tilting-cordextending around and operatively connected to said tilting member auditstwo end portions extending over said pulley means and then downwardly,

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 5th dayofApril, 1928.

' FRANK LEEPER.

means and operatively connected to said tilt= 1 the tilting member to betilted to a new position.

.6. supporting andctiltin device for Yenetian blinds comprising a xedsupportmg bracket, a tilting, memberrotatably g member from thecatchmeans,

